No. 226, Part II, 20 November 1995

This is Part II of the Open Media Research Institute's Daily Digest.
Part II is a compilation of news concerning Central, Eastern, and
Southeastern Europe. Part I, covering Russia, Transcaucasia and Central
Asia, is distributed simultaneously as a second document. Back issues of
the Daily Digest, and other information about OMRI, are available
through OMRI's WWW pages: http://www.omri.cz/OMRI.html
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^TODAY'S TOP STORY^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
KWASNIEWSKI'S VICTORY PREDICTED IN POLISH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
According to preliminary results released by the Public Opinion Research
Center, Democratic Left Alliance leader Aleksander Kwasniewski received
51.4% of the vote and incumbent President Lech Walesa 48.6% in the
second round of the Polish presidential elections on 19 November. These
results are based on a sample of 1,150 election precincts. Turnout was
put at 68%. Kwasniewski appealed for collaboration between his and
Walesa's supporters, while Walesa thanked his constituency and refrained
from reading a prepared statement. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Zbigniew
Okonski announced his resignation and said that the ministers of
internal and foreign affairs, Andrzej Milczanowski and Wladyslaw
Bartoszewski, would also resign. The holders of these three portfolios
are appointed after consultations with the president. The official
results are expected to be announced later today. -- Jakub Karpinski in
Warsaw
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT PROMISES TO SPEED UP ECONOMIC REFORMS. Leonid Kuchma
told a Kiev news conference on 18 November that Ukraine will step up
structural reforms and bring down rising inflation, international
agencies reported. Progress toward free market reforms in Ukraine has
been hampered by the slow pace of privatization and a recent loosening
of fiscal policy to support ailing state enterprises. The Ukrainian
leader said he would aim to lower monthly inflation from 9.1% in October
to an average of 1% in 1996 and revive plans for monetary reform. He
also blasted the National Bank of Ukraine for deviating from his market
reform program and hinted at a possible change in the bank's management.
-- Chrystyna Lapychak
WORLD BANK OFFERS CREDIT PACKAGE TO UKRAINE. World Bank President James
Wolfensohn, in Ukraine from 16-19 November, met with President Leonid
Kuchma, Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk, and Deputy Prime Minister Roman
Shpek to discuss an aid package for reform in the country's energy and
agricultural sectors, international agencies reported. At the end of his
visit, Wolfensohn announced that the World Bank was prepared to lend
Ukraine up to $1 billion annually over the next three years. He added
that $250 million could go to the agricultural sector if privatization
and price liberalization were implemented. The World Bank is also
prepared to offer $100 million to the coal industry next year to develop
profitable pits and close down others. It has already loaned some $500
million to Ukraine, including a $114 million credit to improve
hydropower plants, and $32 million for agricultural projects. -- Ustina
Markus
FIVE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO SEND OBSERVERS TO BELARUSIAN
ELECTIONS. Belarusian Radio on 16 November reported that five
international organizations will be send observers to the 29 November
parliamentary by-elections in Belarus. The EU and the CIS Parliamentary
Assembly will send 10 observers each, the OSCE five, the European
Parliament four; and the North Atlantic Assembly three. One of the
Council of Europe's conditions for Belarus's admission to that
organization are democratic by-elections. -- Ustina Markus
ESTONIAN PREMIER, PRESIDENT SUPPORT EINSELN. Prime Minister Tiit Vahi
told BNS on 17 November that he wanted Lt.-Gen. Aleksander Einseln to
remain commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Vahi, however, did not
criticize Defense Minister Andrus Oovel, who has said that Einseln
should have done much more to build up the country's defense. Vahi said
the press had presented a one-sided view of Oovel's remarks, focusing
only on the shortcomings and not mentioning the accomplishments. On
returning from a UNESCO meeting in Paris, President Lennart Meri the
next day said Einseln had "done an enormous job in raising the defense
forces to that level of thinking that is characteristic of the defense
forces of a democratic country." He said he knew of no better candidate
to lead Estonia's armed forces. -- Saulius Girnius
OFFICES OF LITHUANIA'S LARGEST NEWSPAPER BOMBED. In the night from 16-17
November, a large bomb seriously damaged the newly built annex to the
main offices of the newspaper Lietuvos rytas, BNS reported the next day.
The damage was estimated at more than $100,000, but no one was injured.
Lietuvos rytas, Respublika, and Lietuvos aidas on 18 November published
a statement by the Free Word Fund alleging that the bombing was
"provoked by the Lithuanian political leadership and corrupt financial
groups." The government has offered a $25,000 reward for helping to
determine who organized and carried out the bombing. -- Saulius Girnius
CZECH COALITION PARTIES VOTE TO MERGE. The Christian Democratic Party
(KDS), the smallest party in the Czech governing coalition, voted on 18
November to join forces with the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus, Czech media reported. At separate party
congresses, the ODS voted almost unanimously for the merger, with only
one delegate out of 236 voting against and two abstaining. The KDS voted
by 101 to 69 for the move, with two abstentions. The proposed merger has
already split the KDS, with five of its 10 parliamentary deputies
leaving. Under the merger, which is due to take effect next March, KDS
leader and Education Minister Ivan Pilip will become a deputy chairman
of the ODS. A third right-wing party, the extraparliamentary Club of
Committed Non-Party Members (KAN), narrowly voted not to follow the
KDS's example. -- Steve Kettle
SLOVAK FOREIGN MINISTER REJECTS HUNGARIAN PROTEST OVER LANGUAGE LAW.
Juraj Schenk on 17 November called criticism of Slovakia's new language
law by his Hungarian counterpart, Laszlo Kovacs, an "incorrect"
interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country, Slovenska
republika reported the following day. The Hungarian government expressed
"sorrow and dissatisfaction" with the law passed by the Slovak
parliament on 15 November (see OMRI Daily Digest, 16 and 17 November
1995). In a statement, Schenk said the language law was adopted by a
clear majority of both coalition and opposition deputies, demonstrating
"a de facto consensus on the political scene in the Slovak Republic." --
Steve Kettle
SLOVAK CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS RE-ELECT LEADER. Former Prime Minister Jan
Carnogursky was re-elected chairman of the Christian Democratic Movement
(KDH) at the party's weekend congress in Nitra, Slovak dailies reported
on 20 November. Delegates also adopted a declaration sharply critical of
the governing coalition. It said that Slovakia faces the danger of
nationalism and that false appeals to patriotism by the governing
parties are violating the principles of democracy. Meanwhile, former
Czechoslovak Interior Minister Jan Langos--who represents the KDH in the
Slovak parliament--was elected chairman of the non-parliamentary
Democratic Party. He received 167 votes at the party's congress in
Zvolen and unseated Peter Osusky, who won 46 votes. -- Steve Kettle
HUNGARIAN NATO REFERENDUM TO BE CALLED SOON. Hungarian newspapers on 17
November reported that the non- parliamentary Workers' Party has
gathered more than the required 100,000 valid signatures for a
referendum on NATO membership. After the drive to collect signatures got
under way, the government said it was too early to call a referendum and
that it would make such a move only after Hungary had been invited to
join NATO and when there was more certainty about the costs and criteria
for membership. It is now obliged to call a referendum by the end of
February. A decision must still be taken over whether the referendum
will simply ask for opinions or decide whether Hungary is to apply for
membership. -- Zsofia Szilagyi
HUNGARIAN MINORITIES ELECT LOCAL LEADERS. Hungary's ethnic minorities on
19 November voted in the second round of elections for representatives
to 172 semi-autonomous minority authorities, Hungarian media reported.
More than 2.5 million people (out of a total population of 10.4 million)
were eligible to vote in the election, which was carried out among 11 of
the country's 13 ethnic minorities. The Ukrainian and Serbian minorities
did not vote since all their representatives were elected in the first
round of the minority elections last December. -- Zsofia Szilagyi
POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER IN HUNGARY. Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, during his
official visit to Budapest on 17 November, met with Hungarian
politicians to discuss relations with Russia, regional cooperation, and
integration into the EU and NATO. Bartoszewski was received by Hungarian
President Arpad Goncz, Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs, among others,
Rzeczpospolita reported on 18 November. Bartoszewski and Kovacs stressed
that they are strategic partners both in regional cooperation and in
Euroatlantic integration efforts. -- Dagmar Mroziewicz and Zsofia
Szilagyi
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
LAST DAY FOR DAYTON TALKS. International media on 20 November reported
that a "public event" would take place at 15:00 GMT in Dayton, Ohio, the
same day. The BBC said there would be either a signing of a draft
Bosnian peace agreement or a press conference to announce why the talks
had failed. Croatian President Franjo Tudjman returned to Dayton from
Zagreb and told reporters before leaving that he expected there would be
something to sign. Croatian Television on 19 November also said that a
constitutional agreement had been reached in Dayton to allow the Croats
and Muslims ties with Croatia, while the Bosnian Serbs could have
"parallel links" to Serbia but could not secede from the Bosnian state.
The BBC quoted Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic as saying that his
people would demand either independence or incorporation into a greater
Serbian state, but AFP cited him as being more resigned to a less than
"full realization of our objectives." -- Patrick Moore
ZUBAK, SACIRBEY OFFER RESIGNATIONS. But it appears to be territorial
rather than constitutional questions that have been blocking a
breakthrough--including the status of Sarajevo and the Muslim enclaves
of eastern Bosnia and especially the widening of the Posavina corridor
linking Serbia with its conquests in the Banja Luka area. Croats and
Muslims demonstrated in Sarajevo on 19 November to oppose any
concessions, but international media stated that Bosnian President Alija
Izetbegovic is under intense pressure from Washington and its allies to
yield. Novi list on 20 November reported that Croat-Muslim federation
President Kresimir Zubak has offered his resignation in a bitter protest
at what he and his fellow Bosnian Croats consider a sellout by Zagreb
and the Herzegovinian Croats. CNN stated on 18 November that Bosnian
Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey has submitted his resignation to make
room for a Croat in that post, but the BBC said he wanted to protest
what he considered to be too many concessions at Dayton on Bosnia's
unity and sovereignty. -- Patrick Moore
BELGRADE HELPS REBUILD BOSNIAN SERB MILITARY. Belgrade appears to have
reneged on a promise not to help the Bosnian Serbs rebuild vital
military infrastructure destroyed by NATO air raids, according to The
New York Times on 18 November. Rump Yugoslav military personnel have
reportedly helped reconstruct communications links and rebuild air
defense systems. AFP, citing confidential reports dated 30 October,
noted that UN military observers have detected "regular flights of
military transport aircraft and helicopters into Banja Luka at night."
Meanwhile, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic has reiterated at the
Dayton talks that his intention was and is to end assistance to the
Bosnian Serbs in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions
against the rump Yugoslavia. -- Stan Markotich
IS THERE A SOLUTION FOR KOSOVO IN THE OFFING? Gazeta Shqiptare on 18
November quoted the Kosovar weekly Bujku as reporting that a plan is
circulating among European diplomats that foresees the demilitarization
of Kosovo, the withdrawal of Serbian police, and the organization of
democratic elections under international supervision. The first stage of
the plan foresees an international conference on Kosovo. Kosovar shadow-
state President Ibrahim Rugova has proposed a similar plan, but it is
unclear if Belgrade would agree to it. Meanwhile, Albanian President
Sali Berisha said there can be no just and stable peace in former
Yugoslavia without a solution for Kosovo. International agencies quoted
him as saying on 17 November that "ignoring the issue of Kosovo means
that we shall face a permanent danger of explosion in the southern
Balkans." -- Fabian Schmidt
MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT RETURNS TO WORK. AFP on 17 November reported that
Kiro Gligorov held talks with Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski and
parliamentary speaker Stojan Andov, who had been acting president since
the assassination attempt on 3 October. Gligorov, who sustained serious
injuries in the attack, is continuing his rehabilitation at home. But
according to the President's Office, he "is already carrying out part of
his current duties." -- Fabian Schmidt
ROMANIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE WARNS OF ISLAMIC THREAT. For the second
consecutive year, the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) warned in its
annual report to the parliament that Islamic fundamentalist groups
active in Romania pose a growing threat. According to Reuters on 17
November, the SRI report lists several Middle Eastern extremist groups,
including the Palestinian Hamas, the Iran-backed Hezbollah and the
Popular and Democratic Front of Palestine. The report, which is due to
be presented to the parliament this week, says these organizations are
attempting to recruit members from among Romania's large expatriate
Muslim community. -- Michael Shafir
ROMANIA, UKRAINE MAKE LITTLE PROGRESS ON TREATY. Romanian and Ukrainian
negotiators, meeting in Bucharest on 17-18 November, made little
progress in unblocking the path to a basic treaty, Romanian media and
Reuters reported. The treaty talks stalled in late October over long-
standing territorial disputes (see OMRI Daily Digest, 27 October 1995),
including the issue of the Black Sea Serpent Island, which Bucharest
transferred to the Soviet Union in a secret deal that is now questioned
by the Romanians. Romanian First Deputy Foreign Minister Marcel Dinu
said Bucharest and Kiev have also to negotiate articles on national
minorities. No date has been set for resuming treaty negotiations. --
Matyas Szabo
MOLDOVA PROTESTS RUSSIAN DUMA "INTERFERENCE" . . . Moldova on 17
November protested the Russian State Duma's "interference" in Chisinau's
internal affairs, Moldovan and international agencies reported the same
day. The protest follows a resolution--proposed by a deputy from
Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party and passed by the
Russian parliament's lower chamber--urging President Boris Yeltsin to
declare the separatist Transdniestrian region a "zone of strategic
Russian interest." The resolution also said Yeltsin should "consider the
possibility of convening a tripartite Russian-Moldovan-Transdniestrian
summit to discuss the recognition of Transdniester as an independent,
sovereign state." Moldovan President Mircea Snegur, in a letter to
Yeltsin, said the resolution was an "unfriendly act" and a "direct
interference in Moldovan internal affairs." He expressed the hope that
Yeltsin will use all his powers to put an end to "efforts by
conservative forces" to upset the process of resolving the
Transdniestrian conflict. -- Michael Shafir
. . . WHILE RUSSIA SAYS ITS POSITION REMAINS UNCHANGED. A spokesman for
the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responding to the Duma
resolution, said his country's position toward the settlement of the
Transdniestrian conflict "has not changed," BASA-press reported on 18
November. He said talks between Chisinau and Tiraspol would eventually
lead to granting the breakaway region a "special status" that preserves
"Moldova's territorial integrity and independence." A settlement of the
conflict, he added would also lead to "deeper cooperation between
Moldova and other CIS states." -- Michael Shafir
BULGARIAN PRESIDENT TO RUN FOR SECOND TERM. Zhelyu Zhelev, in an
interview with Bulgarian TV on 18 November, said he will seek re-
election in early 1997, Bulgarian newspapers reported. Zhelev explained
that he was concerned about the "blocking of reforms, social and
political tension, [and] signs of isolation and distrust in the
country." He said he will "rely on all democratic forces" for his
reelection. The Union of Democratic Forces (SDS), which supported Zhelev
in the last presidential elections, has not made its position clear. SDS
caucus leader Yordan Sokolov said SDS Chairman Ivan Kostov would be the
best candidate, while Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofiyanski said the
presidential candidate should be nominated by the SDS and the vice
president by the People's Union (NS). NS co-leaders Stefan Savov and
Anastasiya Dimitrova-Mozer said they will support Zhelev, and ethnic
Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedom Chairman Ahmet Dogan said his
party "leans toward Zhelev." -- Stefan Krause
BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS WANT TO INVALIDATE MAYORAL ELECTION. The Bulgarian
Socialist Party (BSP) on 17 November asked the Kardzhali City Court to
invalidate the election of Rasim Musa as mayor of Kardzhali,
international agencies reported the same day. Musa, who ran as a
candidate of the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedom, won the
run-off on 12 November against BSP-backed Georgi Georgiev. According to
the BSP, 731 people from neighboring constituencies voted illegally in
Kardzhali. Musa won by a margin of 658 votes. A MRF statement accused
the BSP of trying to create ethnic tension in the ethnically mixed
region, adding that "any attempt to invalidate the election results in
Kardzhali in a Balkan manner will return like a boomerang on Bulgaria
and its people." -- Stefan Krause
TURKEY TO HAVE EARLY ELECTIONS. Turkey's Constitutional Court has
rejected a petition blocking parliamentary elections scheduled for 24
December, thereby paving the way for early elections on that date,
Turkish and Western media reported on 18 November. The petition was
submitted by 93 opposition deputies who challenged the legitimacy of the
new election law and claimed there was insufficient time to prepare for
the ballot. The court also invalidated provisions of the new election
law on creating electoral districts for 100 new members of parliament.
The final decision on the election date is to be to the taken by the
electoral commission. -- Lowell Bezanis
[As of 12:00 CET]
Compiled by Jan Cleave
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